New Years Eve

As scrolled through all your blogs this morning, I noticed a bit of a theme.  

There's a lot of sunrise pictures being taken on this last day of the year.  Is it because we somehow want to document the last day of 2014 with a picture?

Well, here's our morning sunrise.  It's a crisp 30 degrees with a heavy frost @8:30am and the day promises lots of sunshine and a high of 47 degrees.  

I'm off from work until Monday so SM and I are plotting our to-do's for the next few days.  

We had enough rain that the ground is too soggy to work outside and more rain is promised for this weekend.  

I know SM will be busy watching the Bowl Games and College BBall and I hope to sort through my closet and say goodbye to clothes and shoes that I will never wear again.  

I expect that I'll fall asleep WAY before midnight but I can count on my hotflashes to wake me up before the ball drops so...

Goodbye 2014 and Hello 2015!!!  
See you Next Year!

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

I had a Come To Jesus moment the other day.

We were at SM's nephew's house for Christmas Dinner and they live in a very nice house.  They have this odd little powder room that is all angles.  Like five walls.  And on two of the walls facing each other there are these HUGE mirrors.

Now as I've gotten older I admit to a tendency of avoiding looking at myself too closely.  

 

So I'm standing there washing my hands when I look up into the mirror and think "Whose ass is that?"

I twist and turn...Holy crap!  Have I gotten that big?

My belly's big.
My hips are big.
My ass is...

Well, you get the picture.

I mentioned this to SM who said "Yeah, I don't like that bathroom either."

"Well, I can't get this outta my head.  I've got to do something."

It's just as well that the New Year is right around the corner along with all those diet commercials.  I don't personally plan on going that route.  I'll just try and do the sensible route of increasing output and decreasing input.

Wish me luck (Ha!) and Goodbye Blue Bunny....{{{sob}}}

Redesigning The Garden

I've been spending a few hours here and there to work in the garden.

Dead zinnia stalks needed yoinking and dead grass needed to be raked up.  As I raked the overgrown grassy areas, it reminded me of combing knots out of my hair when I was a kid.  I had to clean the rake every few swipes to get the "hair" out of it.

With more dirt exposed, I then used the cultivator to lift clumps of grass roots to the surface to dry.  I can shake the dried dirt from the roots and toss the grass in the trash pile.

SM came out during halftime of the football game he was watching to see what I was up to.  I had just transplanted one of the blueberry bushes and was struggling with another one that has a pricker bush growing through it and the roots where intertwined with the rabbit fence we have around the garden.

"Here let me."  SM takes the shovel from me and chews his way through the pricker bush root system.  "Where do you want it?"  He asked.

"In the wheelbarrow for now."  I said.  "I want to see if I can salvage the bush from the pricker bush...See how it runs?"

I pointed out the running root system.  "It's as bad as Bermuda!"  In the end I tossed the bush.  It was just too intertwined.  I had one more blueberry to move.

"Why are you moving them?"  SM asked.

"It just too tight over here and they're not doing well anyway.  I thought I'd use this big bed over here and turn it into a fruit bed."  I told him sweeping my hand to show him the area.

"I want to buy more blueberry bushes and make a patch here, maybe buy a few more fruit trees and I think we need to build a proper grape arbor and transplant them.  It's too tight where they are now."  I continued.

When we tore down the old deck, SM suggested saving the wood to build another small sitting area underneath the maple tree (a nice cool spot on a hot day) and to use some of the posts for a proper grape arbor instead of the fencing we'd put up a few years ago to support the vines. 

Our garden was expanded in stages and some of the garden beds are too tight for the plants I use them for. 

I also want to weed-block and re-mulch the pathways this winter, defining extra working space so I can maneuver a little bit better.  

Every time we expanded we just kept squishing stuff together so that when the garden is in full maturity, you can barely get through it.  This made me feel overwhelmed.  

I'd rather have less garden and more function.

This will be my fifth year with this garden.  
Last year I was a big time slacker in the garden.  
I want to invest a bit more in my 2015 garden.  
More fruit, more flowers and tried and true veg. 


You'd think after five years I'd know what works and what doesn't.  But that's not how it goes is it?

Are you starting to think about next years garden?

Cataract Kid

Do you see this sweet face?

Not only did Miss Ginny have to tolerate the indignities of a bath yesterday, she has an 11:30 appt today to see The Vet for a full workup.

Bad Mommy that I am, she is overdue for her shots.  It doesn't help when I tell her that Casey is also overdue...Today is Ginny's turn, poor kid!

She shakes whenever we go and now that she's half-blind with her congenital cataracts, it makes it that much harder on the ole girl.

I'm hoping SM will tag along to help give her love and keep her calm on the ride over.  For some unknown reason she's always been this way...very fearful of The Vet.

But it will soon be over. 
And it's supposed to be in the 60's and sunny today.  
I think an afternoon nap on the back porch will be just the thing for My Sweet Ginny-Girl.

And maybe for me too! 

Soup Kitchen

The sun is shining and the sky is blue.  Hard to believe that the hard frost of this morning will give way to a temperature close to 60.  

 This is why we moved South.  I can survive anything as long as I can get a little bit of sunshine in the Wintertime.

My to-do list for this weekend is developing with things like...
Give the dogs a bath
Clean the Carpet
Rake leaves...Stuff like that.

But most importantly, today is Soup Day here in my kitchen.  Yesterday I didn't cook a thing since we got together with Family for our Christmas Dinner.

Today, I cut up the half ham and froze most of it but kept some aside for fresh eating.  The bone is in the pot boiling down and in another pot I have carrots, onion and dried split peas cooking down.  I like a smooth Split Pea Soup so I tossed the cooked down veg and ham in the blender for a quick spin before serving.

In another stock pot, I've got a White Bean Soup developing.  This soup I like chunky...Go figure.

After everything had cooled off SM was the first to dig his spoon into the soups. 

"This White Bean is addictive."  SM declared after his second bowl.  I have to agree.  Split Pea is pretty basic stuff.  There's not much you can do with it.  But this White Bean Soup is elevated by the acid of the crushed tomato's.  Who knew?


I don't measure anything.  So if you'd like to try it...

Toss in a box of chicken stock or broth.
3 cans of navy beans (I was out of dry)
2 handfulls of baby carrots
1 (14oz) can of crushed tomatoes
Chunks of ham from the stewed down bone.

Bring it all to a boil and then simmer on low to reduce.  Your taste buds will tell you when it's ready.  I don't remember adding salt but I did add pepper.

Enjoy!

Just Another Day Off?

"Does it feel like Christmas to you?" I asked SM yesterday as we headed out to Kannapolis to go pick up the Nissan which had just received a brand new transmission.

"Not really...You?"  SM inquired.

"No.  It must be because we're older.  Christmas is for kids after all."

"I'll just be glad not to see anymore car commercials on TV.  Do people really run out and buy a new car for Christmas?"  SM asked.

"I have no idea but I think you're right.  By the time Christmas actually gets here you're so fatigued from all the run-up that it just turns into just another day off."  I told him.

"What's your favorite holiday?"  SM asked.

"Besides Saturday and Sunday?"  I laughed.  "Probably New Years and Thanksgiving.  But Fourth of July is pretty neat."

"I like Easter myself."  SM tossed in.

"Yeah...Spring flowers and new green grass."  I mused.  Can you tell I'm ready for Spring?

I thought about that conversation this morning as I did my laps around the neighborhood. 

My life is pretty routine.  As an adult, it's built mostly around my work which provides me with the kibble we need to have a home and all the accessories that modern living provides.

I'm starting to notice though that any time-off from work is starting to feel like a holiday and vice versa.  I pretty much do the same things on a holiday that I do on a day off.

Is that just maturity or do I need to get a life?

All I Want For Christmas

SM and I stopped giving each other Christmas gifts a long time ago. 

After a while it just seemed silly to purchase each other things that we really didn't need just to stick something under the tree. 

If we want something we generally just go and get it.

SM asked me the other day in his usual teasing way "What can I get you for Christmas?"

After a long, hard, stressful day at work, I hugged him and laid my head on his shoulder and said...

"Peace, Comfort and Joy.  That's all I really want for Christmas."

"Well, I think we can manage that."  SM replied holding me.

It will be a quiet day here today.  Rainy but warm and I have a house to clean.  Later, I expect we will head out to see the Children's Christmas Eve service where they put on a Christmas pageant. 

Tomorrow the sun is forecast to shine and we will have dinner with SM's sister Bernadette and her extended family.

So it seems I will get my Christmas wish after all.

We hope that you do too. 




Peace Be With You...

Glaze That Ham

Back in the day when we were younger and flush with cash (ie: not thinking about the future) I would buy a Honeybaked Ham for Christmas to bring it to SM's big family get-together.

That sucker would be opened and eaten within the first few hours of arriving by the general horde that included liquored-up friends and family.  About 30 people picking at that ham reduced it to the bone in no time flat.

The remains would be made into whatever soup Moose felt like making. "Yes" I have a brother in law named Moose and "Yes" Moose can cook.

Ah, those were the days.  We were all young and wild.  Now we're older and some of us have grandkids and extended families and we don't get together for Christmas anymore.  We save those big reunions for Summer.

Anyhow, when it comes to our Christmas dinner these days I usually waffle between a nice beef tenderloin or a ham.  I stalk the local grocery ads waiting for the price of a whole tenderloin to go on sale.  Chop it up into three's and cook one of them.

I'm noticing though that beef is more expensive this year so when I got the Honeybaked Ham coupon in the mail I actually thought about buying one again as a treat.

"Don't you want to just get one at the store and glaze it yourself?"  SM asked.

I shrugged.  "Well, yeah.  I can do that.  I'm just not happy with the glazes I do so I thought that maybe a Honeybaked would be a nice change." 

"You know it's going to be twice as much as a regular spiral?"

"Even with the coupon? I thought if it was only going to be $10 or $15 dollars more it might be nice for a change." 

It's probably been ten years since we ate a Honeybaked Ham.  Clearly I had Honeybaked Hams dancing in my head.

So SM got online and poked around.  Holey Moley!  A half Ham is quoted to run between $55 and $85!  Geez...If I want to pay that I might as well buy the tenderloin!

Well, so much for that.  I stalked the grocery store weekly sales and found a nice ham for $1.37 a lb.  $13 for a half ham is way better in my book.

I've got some clover honey and brown sugar in the pantry just waiting to slick all over that bad boy.

So what are you having for Christmas dinner?

The Second Best Garden There Is

This is the time of the year I start thinking about the perfect garden.

My perfect garden exists only in my dreams. 

Clean, crisp, weed-free pathways outline perfect bug-free plants blooming with flowers and heavy with produce. 

The blue sky has a few puffy clouds and a gentle breeze kicks up every few moments to encourage the leaves and flower to dance a bit.

The temperature is a perfect 70 degrees and the humidity is low as I work in the garden.  I can't even be bothered to break a sweat.

Sigh...

Clearly the garden of my dreams is best left to my imagination. 

Or is it?

A couple of weeks ago I was over at Chiot's Run and saw a post about Secret Garden - An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book.

Since I'm always on the lookout for creative things to doodle away the Winter with I thought "Hey...That would be fun!"  So I ordered book and the same markers Susy recommended from Amazon.  I also bought some colored pencils to mix things up.

It came in a few weeks ago and I got busy.  Whenever I find a few minutes, I stick my reading glasses on and color to my hearts content.

And I have discovered the second best garden there is. 
It's the garden in my coloring book.

There are no rules in this garden I'm creating.

Apples can be pink if I want them.
Leaves can be blue.

And there are no weeds unless I create them.

There are bugs but they are brightly colored, friendly bugs. 
I haven't gotten bitten yet.

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this.
It's silly perhaps.
But it will take years to complete all the pages in this book.

I get to be Silly for a really long time.

And that makes me very Happy.

So until Spring comes around I can let my creativity flow. 

My idea's for my real-life garden can simmer while I color the Winter away.

What's Wrong Pudding Pop?

I've been really busy at work lately.  Sometimes, so busy that the only time I get to see SM is for my goodbye smooch.

The other day I came home to the puppies dancing enthusiastically at my feet, humming various tunes of welcome and saw SM horizontal in his recliner lying there like a slug.

Uh Oh.

"Hey...Are you sick?"  Placing my hand on his forehead in search of fever.

"No."  SM said looking up at me with that sad hang-dog expression.

"Well, good!" I said and kissed him where I'd placed my hand seconds before.

I went about my business of divesting myself from worker-bee mode passing SM several times noting his "blue" mood. 

Finally, I sat down beside him and asked "So how was your day?" to which all I got was a shrug.

"Did you get some exercise?"
"No."
"Did you work in the garage?"  (He's building shelving out there.)
"No."
"So kind of a do-nothing day today huh?" I laughed and stood up.

"You know you do this every year?" I pointed out.
"What?" SM asked startled. 

"Get all excited for Christmas around September and once Christmas actually rolls around you get all blue because business dries up and nobody's calling and you're bored and worried about cash flow and then you poke around the house all bummed out."
"I do?"
"Yeah, every year.  You're very predictable you know."
"Well...I'm worried about money."  SM said defensively.  The Nissan died last week and is getting a new transmission.  Can anybody say Ka-Ching?

"Oh please!  You know it's come and go this time of the year.  So it's a dry month.  So what!  Take it out of savings.  Next month will be better.  You know it's true."

And so it is. 
SM woke up the next day in a much better mood.
And the Universe responded with a job for him in Spartenburg.

Thank Goodness!!!  A blue, mopey SM makes for a very irritable Tami.

Hey...At least I didn't have to go all Cher on his ass.

Waste Not Post #3

I was out the other morning walking the dogs over at the McMansion neighborhood that's across the county road from where we live. 

It was before 5am so no one was out and the crossing was easy.

So we're walking along doing the sniffy thing when I see a bulky pile alongside the curb.  As I got closer I could see a vacuum cleaner and an outside patio set of two chairs and a loveseat.  I shined my flashlight on it and could see rust on the furniture but no breaks and the strapping looked intact.

I finished walking the dogs and went back over to inspect it further.  I sat down on each piece.  They were fine.  Just rusted.

Score!

Since it wasn't that far away I picked up the loveseat pulled it up over my head and hauled it back to the house.  And then I went and got the other two chairs.

It was a nice workout.  I was sweating by the time I got back and SM was up drinking a cuppa Joe.

"I've got an early Christmas present for you."  I crowed.

"Did you find a cat?"  SM asked.  (Geez...We really need to get him a cat.)

"No."  I said, walking through the house to the backyard where I tossed the stuff over the fence.  "Come out here and see what I've got."

It was still dark out as I hauled the patio set to the back porch.

"Look what I found."

"Somebody was throwing that away?"  SM asked.

"Well, it was curbside.  That seems to be the universal signal for come and get it."

"Seems in decent shape.  We can sand off the rust and repaint it."  SM said echoing my thoughts.

"I can get some cushions from Ikea for it."  I continued.  "And then...TaDa!  Patio Furniture!"

Just like that.  Rich mans trash is my treasure. 

I think I'll put this set under the maple tree.  It's a wonderfully cool spot to hang out at on a hot Summer day.

And just in case you were wondering, I did pass on the vacuum cleaner.

I do have my standards, you know.  @;)

The Miracle Of Coconut Oil

Ginny has been battling skin issues for most of her life.  Winter is the calmer season for her with Summer heat impacting her to the point where she starts to loose hair.


Lick, lick, lick...Chew, chew, chew is a song we all know well around here.


The vet tried an antihistamine which didn't really work and left her sleepy.  Then we tried Prednisone which did work and she's been on a very low dose ever since.


Her long whipping tail has been the bane of her existence the past few years.  At it's worst, we had to tape a lightweight pipe insulation tube to her tail for about 6 months to prevent her from whapping it into walls and doorframes and splitting the skin and bleeding all over the place.


She's been better lately but I noticed a new area at the base of her tail which had scabbed over.  Her hair was matted there and she was licking at it.


I cleaned the area as best I could and decided to apply coconut oil to it to lessen the irritation and promote healing. 


You see, I had discovered the miracle that coconut oil can be about a year ago. 


SM and I are heavy users.  He has his favorite brand and I have mine.  We use it daily on our skin and I'd never considered trying it on Ginny's skin mostly because I'd thought she'd just lick it off and make things worse. 


I used the unscented brand that I prefer and surprisingly she leaves it alone. 


I massaged the oil into the areas on her tail that area affected once a day and it seems to be helping.  The scabby area has healed and the bald patches on the tip of her tail are less cracked.


It's only been a few weeks but I'm already impressed.  I'm wondering if adding some to her chow would help.  I googled around and see some articles where folks are doing just that.


Anybody try it?

The Geek In Me Loves It

Waste Not Post #2

I got my Baker Creek catalog this week and I am In Love with the cover.

I'm going to frame and hang it on a wall in my nook.  It would look perfect there.  They folded it up when the postman delivered it so there's a big crease down the middle but I think I can get the crease to flatten out.

Anyway, I asked SM if we had some spare cashola in the bank account so I could go ahead and order.  I spent a pleasant hour trolling through the online images and descriptions and completed my purchase.

I had to laugh.  The majority of my order was flower seeds.


I still had plenty of left overs of various veg seeds from last year.  I picked up a few new to me veggie varieties but everything else was flowers.

Now I've been slowly saving seeds from my veggie patch.  I've got squash, pumpkin and lettuce seed from last years plants. 

But it's never occurred to me to try and save flower seeds.  Except for marigolds.  Those are easy and obvious. 


Why don't I save myself some money and harvest seeds from my own flowers?


I poked around and found a helpful article (with pictures) and saved it under my favorite places to remind me to do this next year.


I sure am slow.  Do you any of you save flower or veg seeds routinely?  Or are you a bit on the slow side like me and buy your seeds every year?

Are We In The Mood Yet?

The "Duh" - Waste Not Post

The other day Mama Pea, over at A Home Grown Journal, wrote a post about her "Duh" moment when after years of wasting stale bread, her own personal light bulb went on and she starting freezing the bread to make croutons out of them at her convenience. 

Many of us follow MP and I thought of her this morning when I jumped in the shower and was smacking the bottle of hair conditioner against my palm trying to get out the last bit out of the plastic bottle.  The stuff is thick and I could see it sitting there, I just couldn't get it out.

After my shower I was smacking the plastic bottle of hair styling goop against my palm trying to get the last of that product out of the bottle when I had my "Duh" moment.

I grabbed some scissors and cut the bottle in half.  Then I scraped the stuff into the bottom and using the top half as a lid, put it back together again.

You would not believe how much product I've been wasting by not cutting the bottle in half. 

There's enough in each bottle to last me a couple more weeks!

"Well...Duh!"